People entitled to free medicines from the government will be able to pick them up from the Sliema and Iklin pharmacies after the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme was extended to these localities.

Those who are entitled to free medicines and diabetes treatment who usually pick up their prescriptions from the Gżira and Birkirkara health centres are asked to make sure they have all valid documents in hand to benefit from the scheme. The documents are the yellow card, the pink card or the white card for controlled medicines, depending on medicines being picked up. In other cases, an MEU permission form, approved by the Health Department, is applicable.

The registration date for the scheme will be announced at a later stage. The POYC department reminded it could not accept any applications unless they were on an official form, which would be distributed in Sliema and Iklin pharmacies in the coming weeks. The POYC system, devised to drastically reduce wastage by allowing patients to pick up medicines they are entitled to from their chosen private pharmacy instead of a government pharmacy, was introduced in some localities in 2008. Call 2248 1800 or 2210 6350 for more information.